Men's Hockey | 1/7/2016 11:17:00 AM

College hockey aficionado and Pittsburgh media personality Mike Prisuta contributes regular commentary on the RMU men's hockey team. This is his latest:

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The intent entering the tournament portion of RMU's schedule was to forget about what had already happened, the good and the bad, and focus on what was still to come.

"It really doesn't matter what we've done in the past," senior goaltender Terry Shafer observed just prior to the Three Rivers Classic. "We're looking ahead here."

The sentiment, presumably, still applies after a fantastic performance, Dec. 28-29, at CONSOL Energy Center and a forgettable effort at the Ledyard Bank Classic, Jan. 2-3, in Hanover, N.H.

The Colonials defeated then-No. 14 Penn State, 6-4, and then rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat then-No. 8 Massachusetts-Lowell, 5-3, on the way to winning their second Confluence Cup in four seasons at CONSOL.

But RMU was unable to recapture the required emotion and execution at the Dartmouth event, and lost to Dartmouth, 5-1, and Union, 5-4.

The season-long search for consistency continues this weekend when the Colonials host Atlantic Hockey Conference rival Bentley (7:05 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Island Sports Center).

RMU is 11-6-3 overall and 8-3-3 (19 points) in AHC play, two points behind first-place Holy Cross (10-3-1, 21 points).

Fourth-place Bentley checks in at 8-9-2 overall and 6-5-2 (14 points) in league play.

The trip to Dartmouth concluded the non-conference portion of the Colonials' 2015-16 schedule.

The season's first 20 games featured a 3-1-0 record against teams currently at No. 14 or high in the PairWise Rankings (1-1-0 against No. 8 Michigan, 1-0-0 against No. 11 Penn State and 1-0-0 against No. 14 Massachusetts-Lowell).

But RMU has also gone 7-3-2 against teams ranked 46th through 60th in the latest Pair Wise, including 1-0-1 against No. 60 Niagara, 1-1-0 against No. 59 American International, 1-1-0 against No. 56 Canisius, 1-0-1 against No. 54 Army and 1-1-0 against No. 48 RIT.   

That's a large enough sample size in both instances for the Colonials to have figured out what works and what doesn't by now.

"We're out there battling hard and competing," Shafer said. "We block a lot of shots. Everybody's bought into our defensive scheme.

"It's just a matter of bringing it more consistently."

The Colonials are also No. 4 in the nation in scoring offense (4.30 goals per game) and No. 1 in power-play efficiency (34.1 percent), so they know how to put the puck in the net.

"It makes my job a whole lot easier when we hang up five or six a night," Shafer said.

Shafer and junior Dalton Izyk have for the most part split the starts in net this season, as they had last season.

But it was Shafer who got consecutive starts, Dec. 12-13, against Canisius, the first time an RMU goaltender had started both games in a series this season, and it was Shafer who replaced Izyk after one period on Jan. 3 against Union, one night after having started against Dartmouth.

"I'm playing my best hockey when I'm outside of the blue paint, out taking my ice," Shafer said. "It's like my goalie coach at home tells me, you just have to watch the puck, simple as that."

The Bentley series commences a run of 14 consecutive AHC games to close out the regular season

"Our eyes are on the prize here," Shafer insisted. "If we bring a consistent effort, offense and defense, everything else will take care of itself."

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